IT’S been the deadliest mountain climbing season in history, and
it’s not over. With the tragedies on Mount Rainier in Washington and
Nepal, one question remains: Why do they do it? Why do people regularly
risk their lives to summit a mountain peak or scale sheer cliffs?

“Because it’s there,” George Mallory famously replied in 1923 when asked why he was trying to climb Mount Everest.

The
quote caught the public’s imagination, as it expressed both the
childlike whimsy of doing something just for the fun of it, and the
adult heroic ideal of dedicating oneself to meeting any challenge, no
matter how tall.

Although Mallory perished the next year on
Everest (and his body was not found for 75 years), his legacy of big
mountain climbing remains. Last year, more than 650 people summited
Mount Everest.
Coming home, each of them probably had to answer the same question: “Why’d you do it?”

The urge to scale mountain faces is mind-boggling to many.Source: AFP

They likely answered with one of these three prime motivators of mountain climbers:Conquering the challenge: Because it’s there
Alpine guide Rich Meyer agrees with the “conquering the challenge” motivation. He told Yahoo Travel:
“Climbing offers a series of mental and physical challenges played out
in some of the most beautiful places on our planet. Overcoming those
challenges, feeling a sense of accomplishment, and learning a little
more about yourself is tremendously rewarding.”

But unless you’re
the rare extreme climber seeking out a first ascent, the challenge isn’t
to conquer the mountain — it’s been done before, by hundreds,
thousands, maybe tens of thousands of people. Climbers on Mount
Kilimanjaro, for example, grew from barely a thousand per year in the
1960s to 28,000 in 2003 and 52,000 in 2012.

You won’t get any fame for being the 52,001st person atop the summit. So what’s the point of this “conquest”?

Mallory
asked himself a similar question about one of his expeditions in the
Alps. “Have we vanquished an enemy?” He answered, satisfied: “None but
ourselves.”

And that remains one of the primary motivations for
mountain climbers — conquering your own internal challenges, whether
that means overcoming fears, pushing your limits, or trying to create a
personal best in terms of physical and mental accomplishment.

The mountain is really just an innocent bystander during this process.

It’s the most challenging trek of your life.Source: AFP

Learning life lessons: Because it’s good for me
Serious
climbs require diligent training, planning, teamwork, and a
step-by-step discipline that can be usefully applied to other parts of
personal and professional life.

Jenny Fellows, director of NASTC (which guides rock climbs in the Sierra Nevada Mountains), told Yahoo Travel she
sees a lot of families happy with the climbing clinics — and not just
because they got from Point A to Point B on a large rock.

“The
group dynamics of climbing is a great learning experience — you’re
really forced to work together to reach a common goal. I’ve seen some
really nice father-son bonding out here.”
The criticism of many of
the high-priced expeditions up Mount Everest is that people are buying
their way out of the key learning experiences and personal development
inherent in mountain climbing.

Having a set of expert guides and
hardworking Sherpas basically drag you to the top of a summit offers
neither a proper sense of achievement nor any life lessons for
dedication, planning, or teamwork. Essentially you’ve just become a
really expensive piece of baggage.
Those climbers who tackle the
mountains not for glory or bragging rights but for personal development
and sheer enjoyment of the moment are those who tend to find the trips
most rewarding.

Reaching the top to feel good.Source: AFP

Managing risks: Because I can
The availability of
hi-tech safety equipment, well-trained guides, and easier global access
to climbing sites has made mountaineering more popular than ever. The
credo may be changing from “Because it’s there” to “Because I can.”

Climbing
has come a long way since Alpinists were hammering nails in their boots
to get a better grip on icy slopes. The evolution of equipment into
lightweight, super-strong, technically rated tools has revolutionised
the sport of rock and mountain climbing in recent years, making ever
more extreme ascents possible, and possibly even enabling too many
novices to get into situations beyond their capabilities.

Climbers
are better-informed than ever about routes to the summit, weather
systems, rescue techniques and supply planning. This has made mountain
climbing more available to the masses, giving people the confidence to
attempt climbs that were previously only available to the climbing
elite. Because of this ability to manage risk, the vast majority of
climbs are done safely. Despite the recent tragedy, Mount Rainier
averaged only 1.4 fatalities per 10,000 climbers over the past 20 years
(according to National Park Service data).

But this is no consolation for those who perish, or the families they leave behind.
For
regardless of training, equipment and planning, there will always be an
inherent danger in mountain climbing. Despite the best forecasting
data, weather remains a potentially lethal wildcard for any expedition.

“You
can mitigate risks, but you can never remove them,” says NASTC’s
Fellows. “But as long as those mountain routes exist, people are going
to keep going up there.”

Freezing temperatures, lack of oxygen and risks of avalanche.Source: AFP

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About Me

Charles G. Irion is the award-winning author and founder of Irion Books LLC which includes Remodeling Hell, Autograph Hell, Car Dealer Hell and Divorce Hell. In addition, Charles has authored a series of murder mystery novels set against the backdrop of the Seven Summits; they are Murder on Everest, prequel Abandoned on Everest, Murder on Elbrus, Murder on Mt. McKinley, Murder on Puncak Jaya, Murder on Aconcagua, Murder on Vinson Massif and Murder on Kilimanjaro.

A successful investor and businessman, Irion is the founder of U. S. Park Investments, a company that owns and brokers manufactured home and RV communities. In addition, Charles released Roadkill Cooking for Campers - The Best Dang Wild Game Cookbook in the World.